oil pan gasket reuse

[BigD]

So I've put on the E34 oil pan onto my S52 but now I want to check something inside there... It's the paper/plastic type gasket, I put a bead of silicone all around on both sides, and over the alu/iron mating cracks. Can I separate them and just put it back on after (would I have to re-silicone it)? Or would I have to get a new gasket?

Thanks!

[jlevie]

Get a new gasket. The odds are that this one will come off in pieces since you used a gasket compound.

[AlarmedBread]

silly cone is bad.

FWIW, I put a paper gasket on my oil pan and swapped out the pump a month or so later, gasket stayed in one piece attached to the block.

Have a new one handy just in case.

[Jand3rson]

I always go by what a good mechanic friend of mine told me.

Gaskets are like underwear. If you like coming home from a 14 hour day of working like a dog and sweating your ass off, taking a nice, long shower, getting out and putting the same pair of underwear back on, go ahead and reuse your old gaskets. But if you're not too lazy to walk your ass over to your dresser and get out a new pair, go get a new gasket.

[strad]

I'll bet he wants to check the oil pump nut. . .

Never reuse gaskets -- they're too inexpensive for that!

[FredK]

Well, an M50 oil pan gasket is around $22. Back in my day, $22 could buy a family of four groceries for a week. Now it only gets you an oil pan gasket. J/k.